Labeling machine



Feb. 4, 1958 N. J. MILLER 2,822,105

LABELING MACHINE Filed Nov. 50, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. M (HOAAS J. MILLER ATTORNEY N. J. MILLER LABELING MACHINE Filed Nov. so, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 N v? mm llllfll 'll M,m r A Feb. 4, 1958 N. J. MILLER LABELING MACHINE Filed Nov. so, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTORF 4767/01/48 L MILLER 45/. BY 1 via 7 4 A TTQP/YEY United States Patent LABELING MACHINE Nicholas John Miller, West St. Paul, Minn., assignor to Swift & Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application November 30, 1956, Serial No. 625,309

8 Claims. (Cl. 216-55) The present invention relates to an apparatus for applying bands, such as labels, to articles.

Many articles are sold or distributed with a band about the article, which band is used to hold a plurality of objects together into a single unit or article, or to furnish significant information with respect to the article, or both. For example, many sausage products are packed in a plain casing with a paper wrapper about the casing. The paper wrapper is used to supply the brand name, the name of the manufacturer, ingredients, etc. The principal object of the present invention is to provide a simple yet dependable machine for applying such bands. In the achieving of this object the apparatus that has been devised is relatively low in initial cost and requires only a nominal amount of maintenance to keep it in good operating condition. An advantage of the apparatus is that the maintenance can be carried out by a regular plant maintenance engineer inasmuch as no complicated parts are involved that require a specialized technical knowledge.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an end elevation of an embodiment of the machine;

Figure 2 is a side view taken at line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the machine illustrating the final step of sealing the band;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the object with the band thereon;

Figure 5 is a partial elevation of the end opposite that illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a plan view taken at line 66 of Figure 5 with the object chute pivoted upwardly so that it does not appear in the view; and

Figure 7 is a partial section taken at line ure 6.

The machine is constructed on a frame generally 10 and includes an elevator generally 11 formed by a platform member 12 and a vertical member 13. Vertical member 13 slides in a pair of guides 14 forming a part of frame 10. Attached to platform member 12 is an object holder 15. Referring to Figure 3, it will be seen that the holder 15 is curvilinear to conform to the outside configuration of the generally cylindrical objects 16, thereby serving to align the objects on elevator 11. A pair of depending fingers 18 are pivotally connected to a link 19, which link is also pivotally attached to a formed arm 20. Ann 20 is pivotally mounted on a shaft 21 mounted in brackets 22 of frame 10. A cam follower 23 on the other end of forked arm 20 rides on acam 24. Cam 24 is attached to a shaft 25 suitably journaled in frame 10.

A chute 28 for holding and feeding the objects 16 carries a pair of arms 29 pivotally mounted on frame 10 by a rod 30. An L-shaped actuating member 31 is se- 77 of Figcured to one of arms 29 with one of its legs carrying a P atented Feb. 4, 1958 cam follower 32. Cam follower 32 rides on a cam 33 secured to shaft 25. Cam follower 32 is held against cam 33 by a spring 34 connecting a post 35 of frame 10 and a rod 36 between arms 29.

At the lower end of chute 28 is a door 39 pivotally attached to chute 28 by a pin 40. An actuating member 41 projecting from door 39 carries a bolt 42 to control the movement of the door. An arm 43 secured to actuating member 41 serves as a point of engagement for spring 44, the other end of which is connected to a post 45 on frame 10. It will be seen that spring 44 urges door 39 in one direction (clockwise direction in Figure 2) while stop bolt 42 contacting the upper surface 46 of frame 10 rotates the door in the opposite direction to open the door at appropriate times as hereinafter described. The other end of chute 28 is open as seen at 47 to permit the loading of the objects 16 into the chute.

Referring to Figures 6 and 7, the upper surface 46 of frame 10 has an opening 50 therein of a size to permit the objects 16 to pass therethrough. At each side of opening 50 and immediately adjacent the sides of object holder 15 when the elevator 11 is in the raised position is a band holder generally 51. Band holder 51 is formed of a pair of end walls 52 and 53 and back walls 54 and 55. In the extreme ends of holder 51 are raised plates 56 and 57 which are heated by suitable electric heaters such as the one illustrated at 58 in Figure 7.

Chute 61 permits the bands to slide to holder 51 from a band feeder generally 62 which withdraws the bands from a magazine 63 where the bands are held against lips 64 by a follower 65. Feeder 62 comprises a casing 67 in which a rod 68 slides. A portion of the rod 68 is hollow as illustrated at 69 with the hollow interior communicating with a vacuum cup 70 attached to the end of rod 68. A slot 71 extends between the hollow interior 69 of rod 68 and the exterior thereof. A pipe 72 is attached to casing 67 and communicates with a suitable source of vacuum through a hose 73. The end of pipe 72 is aligned to communicate with slot 71 during the time when rod 68 is moved to bring vacuum cup 70 against the bottom band in magazine 63. As rod 68 moves to bring the vacuum cup 70 away from magazine 63, the slot 69 moves out of communication with pipe 72 and into communication with an exhaust port 74 extending through casing 67.

A ring 76 attached to the end of rod 68 fits about one end of a rocker 77. Rocker 77 is suitably mounted for rotational movement about shaft 78. The other end of rocker 77 is connected by means of a link 79 to finger 80 on sliding arm 81. Bearing 82 suitably mounted on frame 10 holds arm 81 in alignment and permits the arm to move longitudinally of the arm. A cam follower 83 on the end of arm 81 is held against a cam 84, secured to shaft 25, by a spring 85 which connects the lower portion of rocker 77 and frame 10.

Two sealing fingers and 91 are mounted on the underside of the upper surface 46 of frame 10 by pairs of guides 92 and 93, respectively. A downward projection 94 has a slot 95 therein. A pin 96 secured to rocker 97 fits in slot 95. Rocker 97 is pivotally mounted on shaft 21. The other end of pin 96 is connected by a spring 98 to a post 99 extending downwardly from frame 10. A cam follower 100 projects from arm 97 to contact a cam 101 attached to shaft 25. Cam follower 100 is held against cam 101 by spring 98.

Finger 91 has a pin 104 projecting downwardly therefrom (Figures 5 and 6). A lever 105 pivotally mounted on a post 106 of frame 10 has a slot 107 inone end thereof to fit about pin 104. A rod 108 is attached to the other end of lever 105 at one end and is attached to a rocker 109 at the other end (Figuresl and 2).

3 Rocker 109 is pivotally mounted on shaft 21. A cam follower 110 attached to rocker 109 rides against a cam 111 and is held against the cam by a spring 112 connecting rocker 109 and post 113. Cam 111 is attached to shaft I 25. i

Shaft 25 is driven through a sprocket 117 which is secured thereto. A chain 118 connects sprocket 117 with a sprocket 119 on the output shaft of a gear head motor 120.

In operation magazine 63 is filled with the bands which are of a type that has a thermoplastic adhesive on each end thereof. Chute 28 is filled with the objects 16 about which the bands are to be placed. At this time cam 33 has reached cam follower 32 so as to tip chute 28 a short distance in a clockwise direction from the position illustrated in '.Figure 2. .With the chute being so tipped, bolt 42 is out of contact with the upper surface 46 of the frame 14 so that spring 44 holds door 39 closed. This prevents the objects from coming out of the bottom end of the chute. As the motor 120 rotates shaft 25, cam 84 pushes cam follower 83 to the right in Figure 1 so as to bring vacuum cup 70 into contact with the bottom band in magazine 63. This also applies a vacuum to the vacuum cup through slot 71 communicating with the hollow interior 69 of rod 68 and with pipe 72. The cam surface of cam 84 then drops back to allow cam follower 83 to move to the left in Figure 1 under the urging of spring 85 to move vacuum cup 70 to the right away from magazine 63. The vacuum cup draws with it the bottom band in the magazine and as the vacuum cup reaches the end of its stroke the slot 71 has moved away from the end of pipe 72 to cut off the vacuum to the vacuum cup. At this time slot 71 comes in communication with opening 74 in casing 67 so as to release the vacuum from cup 70. The band drawn from magazine 63 slides down chute 61 to come to rest on the holder 51. The ends of the band are heated by resting on surfaces 56 and 57. The position of the band, of course, is determined by the walls 52 through 55.

During this time elevator 11 is raised to bring the object holder 15 into the position illustrated in Figure 2. Cam 33 then allows chute 28 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction in Figure 2 under the urging of spring 34. This brings bolt 42 into contact with the upper surface 46 of the frame to open door 39. An object falls from the chute into the object holder 15 which aligns the object. The label that was resting in holder 51 is, of course, between object holder 15 and the object 16. Chute 28 then tips in a clockwise direction to close door 39 and hold the remaining objects in the chute. In addition to opening and closing door 39 the rocking motion of chute 28 insures that the objects 16 in the chute keep moving to the bottom of the chute.

Elevator 11 is then lowered by cam 24 to a position at which the top of object '16 is at approximately the same level as sealing fingers 90 and 91. As it does so the band is prefolded into a U shape by being drawn against the sides of the opening 50. Cam 101 moves finger 90 to the left in Figures 2 and 3 to press one of the ends ofthe hand against the object. The thermoplastic adhesive on the end of the band which has been softened by'the heaters causes the end of the band to adhere to the object. Finger 90 moves back while finger 91 is moved toward the object by cam 111 to press the other end of the hand down across the first end with the two becoming adhered by the softened thermoplastic adhesive on the ends of the band. Finger 91 moves back to its original position.

Elevator 11 moves downwardly a greater distance to bring the ends of the object 16 into contact with a chute 123. As will be seen in Figure 5, chute 123 has a cutout 124 to permit the elevator to move through the upper end of the chute. The continued lowering of the elevator .11 after the ends of the object have contacted chute 123 'lift the object 16 out of holder 15 and permit the object to move downwardly on chute 123 to a suitable receptacle (not shown) positioned below that chute. The elevator 11 then goes back upwardly to repeat the process.

The foregoing detailed description is only for clearness of understanding and for the purpose of complying with 35 U. S. C. 112, and I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A machine for applying a band to a given dimension of a unit of a given size, said machine comprising article supporting means, a band prefolding means defining an opening through which said dimension of said unit will pass with said prefolding means at said opening being immediately adjacent the sides of said unit, a band feeder to place a band over said supporting means, a unit feeder to deposit said unit over said bands, one of said means being movable vertically with respect to the other of the means to draw said band at least partially about said unit, means adjacent the top of the unit to draw the ends of the band about the unit and to press the ends together, and means to remove the unit from the supporting means.

2. A machine for applying a band to a given dimension of a unit of a given size, said machine comprising article supporting means, said means having a cradle to hold and orient said unit on said supporting means, a band we folding means defining an opening through which said dimension of said unit will pass with said prefolding means at said opening being immediately adjacent the sides of said unit, a band feeder to place a band over said supporting means, a heater to heat the ends of said band, a unit feeder to deposit said unit over said bands, one of said means being movable vertically with respect to the other of the means to draw said band at least partially about said unit, means adjacent the top of the unit to draw the ends of the band about the unit and to press the ends together, and means to remove the unit from the supporting means.

3. A machine for applying a band to a given dimension of a unit of a given size, said machine comprising article supporting means, a band prefolding means defining an opening through which said dimension of said unit will pass with said prefolding means at said opening being immediately adjacent the sides of said unit, a band feeder to place a band over said supporting means, a chute to hold said units, said chute having a pivotally mounted door at the bottom thereof, a resilient member to normaly hold said door closed, a pusher member to pivot the door open to deposit said unit over said bands, one of said means being movable vertically with respect to the other of the means to draw said band at least partially about said unit, means adjacent the top of the unit to draw the ends of the band about the unit and to press the ends together, and means to remove the unit from the supporting means.

4. A machine for applying bands to units of a predetermined size, said machine comprising a table having an opening of a size to permit said units to pass through, a band feeder to deposit a band at a time on said table with the length of the band extending across said opening and having a predetermined orientation with respect to said opening, a unit feeder to deposit a unit on each said band deposited on said table with the unit having a given orientation with respect to said opening, an elevator below said opening to support said deposited band and unit, means to move said elevator down to lower said unit below the surface of said table, means to draw the ends of the band about the unit, and means to remove the unit from the elevator.

5. A machine for applying a band to an article, said machine comprising a frame, an elevator movable vertically on said frame between a raised and a lowered position, said elevator having article holding means there:

on, a band holder on said frame adjacent each side of said means when said elevator is in the raised position to align a band with respect to said article holder, means on said frame to feed a band to said band holder, means on said frame to feed an article to said article holding means, sealing means on said frame to pass across the top of said article when said elevator is in said lowered position to draw the ends of the band across the top of the article, and power means connected to said elevator. said band feeding means, said article feeding means, and said sealing means to position a band on said band holder and position the elevator in said raised position, to deposit an article over the band and onto the article hold ing means, to lower the elevator to the lowered position, and to draw the ends of the band about the article.

6. A machine for applying a band to an article, said machine comprising a frame, an elevator movable vertically on said frame between a raised and a lowered position, said elevator having article holding means thereon. a band holder on said frame adjacent each side of said means when said elevator is in the raised position to align a band with respect to said article holder, means on said frame to feed a band to said band holder, a chute to hold an article and having an article discharge end with a door at said end, means to open and close said door, the discharge end of said chute being aligned with said holding means, sealing means on said frame to pass across the top of said article when said elevator is in said lowered position to draw the ends of the band across the top of the article, and power means connected to said elevator, said band feeding means, said door opening and closing means, and said sealing means to position a band on said band holder and position the elevator in said raised position, to deposit an article over the band and onto the article holding means, to lower the elevator to the lowered position and to draw the ends of the band about the article.

7. A machine for applying bands to elongated, gen erally cylindrical, articles of a predetermined size, said machine comprising a frame, an elevator mounted on said frame for vertical movement between a raised and a lowered position, an arcuate article holder mounted on said elevator for positioning the articles on said elevator in a predetermined alignment, band holding means positioned at each side of said holder when said elevator is in the raised position and transverse to the elongated axis of an article when an article is in said holder, a band chute leading to said holding means, feeding means to release one band at a time in said chute to slide into said holding means, an article chute having a door at the discharge end thereof, said chute being pivoted between a first position at which said end is aligned with said holder and immediately thereabove to a second position at which said end is raised, spring means connected to said door to normally urge said door closed, a door actuating lever, a stop positioned to contact said actuating lever to open said door as said chute moves from the second to the first position and to close said door when said chute moves from the first to the second position, sealing means on said frame to pass across the top of said article when said elevator is in said lowered position to draw the ends of the band across the top of the article, and power means connected to said elevator, said band feeding means, said door opening and closing means, and said sealing means to position a band on said band holder and position the elevator in said raised position, to deposit an article over the band and onto the article holding means, to lower the elevator to the lowered position and to draw the ends of the band about the article.

8. A machine for applying bands to elongated, generally cylindrical, articles of a predetermined size, said machine comprising a frame, an elevator mounted on said frame for vertical movement between a raised and a lowered position, an arcuate article holder mounted on said elevator for positioning the articles on said elevator in a predetermined alignment, band holding means positioned at each side of said holder when said elevator is in the raised position and transverse to the elongated axis of an article when an article is in said holder, a band chute leading to said holding means, feeding means to release one band at a time in said chute to slide into said holding means, an article chute having a door at the discharge end thereof, said chute being pivoted between a first position at which said end is aligned with said holder and immediately thereabove to a second position at which said end is raised, spring means connected to said door to normally urge said door closed, a door actuating lever, a stop positioned to contact said actuating lever to open said door as said chute moves from the second to the first position and to close said door when said chute moves from the first t0 the second position, sealing means on said frame to pass across the top of said article when said elevator is in said lowered position to draw the ends of the band across the top of the article, and power means connected to said elevator, said band feeding means, said door opening and closing means, and said sealing means to position a band on said holder and position the elevator in said raised position, to deposit an article over the band and onto the article holding means, to lower the elevator to the lowered position and to draw the ends of the band about the article, and to then move said elevator to a lower position, and a chute having portions extending about the elevator to intersect the article moving to said lower position to lift the article from the holder whereby said article will be transferred to said chute.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,409,375 Hardy Mar. 14, 1922 1,416,982 Schoenwetter May 23, 1922 1,789,467 Intemann Jan. 20, 1931 2,169,591 Neumair Aug. 15, 1939 

